Ecologism
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in birth rates, especially in the developing world; or argued that immigration from the developing world to the developed world should be stopped. z z Simple living . Deep ecologists believe that humans have no right to reduce the richness and diversity of nature except, as Naess put it, to satisfy vital needs. This is a philosophy of ‘walking lighter on the Earth’. It certainly implies an emphasis on promoting the quality of life (‘being’) rather than the quantity of possessions (‘having’), and is often linked to a postmaterial model of self-realization, commonly understood as self-actualization . This implies being ‘inwardly rich but outwardly poor’. z z Bioregionalism . This is the idea that human society should be reconfigured in line with naturally-defined regions, each ‘bioregion’, in effect, being an ecosystem. Bioregionalism is clearly at odds with established territorial divisions, based on national or state borders. Although deep ecologists seldom look to prescribe how humans should organize themselves within such bioregions, there is general support for self-reliant, self-supporting, autonomous communities. THE FUTURE OF ECOLOGISM The future prospects for ecologism would appear to be firmly linked to the state of the environmental crisis and the general level of understanding about environmental issues and problems. As evidence of the blight of nature accumulates – through climate change, reduced levels of male fertility caused by pollution, the eradication of animal and plant species, and so on – the search for an alternative to growth-obsessed industrialism will surely intensify. The fluctuating fortunes of green parties and single-issue environmental groups provide no reliable indication of the strength of ecological ideas and values. One of the problems confronting green parties is that their mainstream and much larger rivals have often take up ‘eco-friendly’ positions that were once exclusively theirs. Similarly, the membership and activist base of environmental groups does not reflect the number of ‘fellow-travellers’ in society at large, nor the wider adoption of ecological practices such as recycling, the consumption of organic food and the adoption of vegan diets. In this light, we can expect growing numbers of people to ‘turn green’ in an attempt to reverse the policies and practices that have brought both the human species and the natural world close to destruction. Significant problems nevertheless confront ecologism. In the first place, it is difficult to see how ecologism can become a genuinely global ideology. As far as developing-world states are concerned, the strictures of ecologism appear to deny them the opportunity to
catch up materially with the West, ruling out large-scale industrialization, the exploitation of finite resources and uncontrolled pollution. Second, industrialism and its underlying values, such as competitive individualism and consumerism, have become more deeply entrenched, in part as a result of the advance of economic globalization. Third, difficulties surround the anti-growth or degrowth message of ecologism. The politics of zero or even sustainable growth may be so electorally unattractive to populations that it proves to be politically impossible. This was perhaps demonstrated by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the speed with which states re-prioritized economic growth each time they believed the public health crisis had passed. Fourth, ecologism may simply be an urban fad, a form of postindustrial
Self-actualization: An ‘inner’, even quasi-spiritual, fulfilment that is achieved by transcending egoism and materialism. Bioregionalism: The belief that the territorial organization of economic, social and political life should take into account the ecological integrity of bioregions.
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